Use case: NPS comments
NPS Comment Analysis: Find What Drives Your Score
Analyze NPS verbatim comments with AI. Split detractors, passives and promoters, find the themes behind each score and see what to fix first.
By Apercu team · Last updated
Your NPS score tells you how many customers would recommend you. The comments tell you why. NPS comment analysis turns those verbatims into a ranked list of themes for detractors, passives and promoters, so you know what to fix and what to protect.
Why the score alone is not enough
An NPS of 32 does not tell anyone what to do. When the score drops 6 points, the first question in the room is "why?", and the answer is in the comments that nobody has time to read. A program with a few hundred responses per wave produces more text than a team can process before the next wave arrives.
How to analyze NPS comments with Apercu
- Export score and comment. From your survey or NPS tool, export a CSV with at least the score and the comment. Keep useful segments such as plan, region or customer tenure.
- Split by score group. Detractors are 0 to 6, passives 7 and 8, promoters 9 and 10. Filter your file into three files, or three sheets.
- Upload each group. Describe the data in the context box, for example "NPS detractor comments from a B2B project management tool".
- Review the themes. Each theme shows a count, a percentage and the comments behind it. Rename unclear themes and move comments that landed in the wrong group.
- Compare the groups. Put the detractor and promoter themes side by side. The biggest detractor themes are what to fix. The biggest promoter themes are what to protect and market.
- Repeat each wave. Save every analysis and compare the percentages over time.
Example: what the comparison shows
An illustrative example for a SaaS product with 600 NPS responses:
| Theme | Detractors (n = 140) | Promoters (n = 260) |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding clarity and time to value | 31% | 8% |
| Workflow friction in key tasks | 24% | 5% |
| Pricing perception and plan fit | 18% | 3% |
| Support experience and responsiveness | 12% | 22% |
| Feature gaps and wishlist | 9% | 11% |
| Ease of use and speed | 4% | 38% |
Reading it: onboarding is the clearest fix, since it is a large detractor theme and nearly absent for promoters. Support is a strength worth protecting, since promoters mention it far more than detractors do. Feature requests appear evenly in both groups, so they are not what separates a 4 from a 9.
Tips for better NPS comment analysis
- Ask a good follow-up question. "What is the main reason for your score?" produces more focused comments than "Any other feedback?"
- Watch passives. They often name the one thing that would make them promoters.
- Segment before you conclude. A theme that looks small overall can dominate one plan or region.
- Close the loop. Share the top themes and planned fixes with the teams that own them, and tell customers what changed.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
How do you analyze NPS comments?
Export the score and the comment for every respondent, split the comments into detractors (0 to 6), passives (7 and 8) and promoters (9 and 10), and run a thematic analysis on each group. Compare the themes and their percentages across groups to see what drives each score.
Should I analyze detractor and promoter comments separately?
Yes. Mixed together, a theme like 'Support' contains both complaints and praise, and the counts stop meaning anything. Separate analyses show what detractors want fixed and what promoters value most.
How many NPS comments do I need for thematic analysis?
Around 50 comments per group start to show clear themes. With fewer, read the comments directly and treat any percentages as rough.
Can Apercu analyze NPS comments from Delighted, Qualtrics or SurveyMonkey?
Yes. Any tool that exports a CSV or Excel file with the comment in one column works. Filter or split the file by score group before uploading, or upload separate files for detractors, passives and promoters.
Does Apercu calculate the NPS score?
No. Apercu analyzes the comments. Calculate the score in your survey tool or spreadsheet, and use Apercu to explain it.
How often should I analyze NPS comments?
Every survey wave, or monthly for continuous NPS programs. Saving each analysis as a project lets you compare theme percentages over time and check whether fixes worked.